May 20th - St. Bernardino of Siena, OFM Priest (RM)
Born in Massa Marittima (near Siena), Tuscany, Italy, on September 8,
1380;
died in Aquila, Italy, May 20, 1444; canonized in 1450 by Pope Nicholas V.
"Jesus, crucified for me, with the nails of Your love fasten my whole
self to You."
-Berardino of Siena.
Son of the governor of Massa Marittima (near Siena), Bernardino degli
Albizzeschi was placed in the care of an aunt when he was seven after the
death of his parents in 1386. She provided him with his religious
education.
At 17, he joined a confraternity of Our Lady.
When the plague came to Siena in 1400, Bernardino offered to take charge
of
the hospital, recalling the gentleness and virtue his pious aunt had
taught
him. He also gathered round him twelve young friends who were willing to
risk their lives to share this duty. For the four months of the
pestilence,
they worked tirelessly. Bernardino also organized an effective service of
welfare and relief. Although several of his companions died, he did not
contract the disease (one source said he did and came close to death).
He then cared for his blind, bedridden 90-year-old aunt, Bartholomea.
After
her death, he set himself to prayer and fasting to learn God's will for
his
future. While praying before his crucifix, he was impressed and
reproached,
like Saint Francis, by the suffering of Our Lord, who seemed to step down
from the Cross and appear before him in His ****dness and sorrow. He could
not resist the pleading in his Savior's eyes and surrendered all he had.
He took the habit on September 8, 1402, entered the Franciscan monastery
of
strict observance at Colombaio outside Siena in 1403. He was ordained on
September 8, 1404-the Feast of the Birth of Our Lady and his birthday as
well. Later he moved to Fiesole near Florence.
Over the next 12 years he preached only occasionally, preferring to live
as
a solitary. He went to Milan and on September 8, 1417, he preached his
first
sermon as a missioner. Despite being a stranger to the city, his eloquence
and fiery sermons soon attracted huge congregations. The people made him
promise to return the following year before they allowed him to leave to
preach in Lombardy. He covered nearly all of Italy, usually on foot,
preaching for two and three hours at a time, and often giving several
speeches in a day- generally at a pulpit in the open air because the
crowds
were so huge.
He attacked usury relentlessly, and denounced the party strife of the
Italian cities as a fundamental evil of the age and place. On the other
hand, he did not rise above such contem****ary characteristics as hostility
toward Jews and belief in widespread witchcraft.
He would castigate vice and then hold up a placard with the sign of the
name
of Jesus, "IHS," written on it, urging the congregation to turn to the one
symbolized by those letters. People became so enthused that they even had
IHS painted on houses. Throughout Italy people spoke of the wonderful
benefits of his preaching. Once a man whose livelihood came from making
playing cards complained that Bernardino had so successfully fought
against
gambling that the trade was ruined. Bernardino gave him a new, even more
profitable trade, printing cards with the sign IHS.
Some of his preaching was criticized by the University of Bologna, but
this
controversy, which troubled him for eight years, ended in his favor. His
detractors accused him of encouraging superstitious practices. They said
that he carried on his person a piece of paper on which the Name of Jesus
was written, that when he pleaded with sinners he showed it to them and it
gave out rays of light, and denounced him to Pope Martin V. He was cleared
of the charges after an examination of his doctrine and conduct. It may
well
be that the light symbolized that which flowed from his devoted spirit and
the grace and passion of his eager witness.
Pope Martin V offered him the bishopric in Siena in 1427, but he declined,
as he later declined the bishoprics of Ferrara and Urbino. In 1430, the
"Apostle of the Holy Name" became vicar general of the Friars of the
Strict
Observance. He reformed the rule to involve the friars more as preachers
and
teachers and many convents passed easily from the Conventual to the
Observant rule. In fact, the number of friars under the rule grew from 300
to over 4,000. The original Observants had shunned scholar****p (as
riches),
but Bernardino insisted upon instruction in theology and canon law as part
of the regular curriculum.
From 1430, he wrote theological works in both Latin and Italian. These
covered the principal doctrinal and moral elements of Christianity, as
well
as treatises on the Blessed Mother. He established theological schools at
Perugia and Monteripido.
In 1442, he obtained permission from the pope to resign his office,
although
Bernardino assisted at the Council of Florence. His health was failing,
but
Bernardino was insistent upon a final missionary journey. He began it at
Massa Marittima in 1444 where he preached on fifty consecutive days.
Although dying, he continued his apostolic travels, setting out for Naples
and preaching as he went. He got as far as Aquila in the Abruzzi, where he
died.
His tomb at Aquila was said to be the site of miracles. He was the most
prominent missioner of the 15th century, and he was canonized within six
years of his death.
It has been said that the 'People's Preacher' inaugurated in Italy 'one of
those rare periods in history when the rule of Jesus made visible progress
in society.' He was called the "People's Preacher" because his sermons
were
filled with lively and realistic depictions of everything from a
bachelor's
household to women's fa****ons (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney,
Farmer, Gill, Origo, White).
Bernardino is represented in art as an old, toothless Franciscan holding
up
a sign bearing the legend "IHS," from which rays ****ne forth. Medieval and
Renaissance painters depicted him as small and emaciated, with deep
burning
eyes. He may also be seen (1) preaching before the Palazzo Communale in
Siena with IHS held before him; (2) with a banner bearing IHS and a star
over his head; (3) with three mounds surmounted by a banner with a cross
(possibly these mounds may really represent the three miters he refused-
Siena, Urbino, and Ferrara); with a trumpet as a sign of his power as a
preacher, or (5) in a painting by El Greco, bearded and habited, or four
mitres at his feet, IHS on his staff (Farmer, Gill, Roeder, White).
Bernardino was made the patron saint of advertisers and advertising in
1956
by Pope Pius XII because of his ability to illuminate the Catholic faith
to
audiences by the use of simple language and telling symbols. He is invoked
against hoarseness, which he suffered in his early days of preaching, and
is
believed to have been cured by a prayer to the Blessed Virgin (White). He
is
also the patron of wool-weavers and invoked against diseases of the chest
and lungs (Roeder).
Saint Quote:
The Sister catechist must be ready, at every moment, to instruct the
little
ones and the uneducated. She must not count the sacrifices such a ministry
demands, indeed she should desire to die while doing it, if this be God's
will.
--Blessed Giulia Salzano
Bible Quote
19 My brethren, if any of you err from the truth, and one convert him: 20
He
must know that he who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of
his
way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.
(James 5:19-20)
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A prayer to Our Lord's Sacred Heart, for His Church:
Most sacred Heart of Jesus, shower copiously blessings on Thy
holy Church, on the Supreme Pontiff, and on all the clergy;
grant perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten
infidels, bless our parents, friends, and benefactors, assist the
dying, liberate the souls of purgatory, and extend over all
hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.
Imprimatur: +John Farley, Archbishop of New York, Sept 19, 1908.
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